Situation:

Hagerty was asked to assess the Disaster Housing Assistance Pilot Program (DHAP), a joint venture between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Need:

The program was developed in 2007 to provide continued rental assistance to more than 36,000 displaced households affected in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Solution:

Hagerty began by interviewing 30 program stakeholders, reviewing key program documents and standard operating procedures, analyzing countless program and financial reports, and conducting seven site visits to public housing authorities (PHAs) responsible for implementing the program. All of the data was input and evaluated, and summarized–both findings and recommendations–in an Executive Summary. The final DHAP Assessment Report was issued shortly thereafter.

Outcome:

The result of the research was a detailed overview of the pilot program. Many of the recommendations for improvement are being incorporated into a new FEMA-designed template for future collaborative disaster housing operations. The goal is to increase the efficiency of service delivery to disaster-affected households.